South African teachers’ perceptions on integration of sex education into the school curriculum

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to reflect on South African learners and educators’ perceptions on the integration of sexuality education into the secondary school curriculum and how the inclusion of sexuality education into the school curriculum could be an intervention to the negative effects of teenage pregnancy on the girl child’s educational opportunities. Using the qualitative research approach the study gathered narrative data from 18 educators and 20 learners who were purposefully sampled from a school that faced high prevalence of schoolgirl pregnancy. Both in-depth and focus group interviews were the main data collection instruments. The gathered narrative data were thematically analysed by identifying themes that emerged from the participants’ perceptions about the integration of sex education into the school curriculum. Research findings revealed that inadequate educational parental participation, inadequate teacher development on sexuality education and socio-cultural conservatism are the main hurdles to the equitable educational opportunities for girls who could fall pregnant before school completion. From the findings, the study recommends that sexuality education be mainstreamed in teacher education curriculum, community structures such churches, family, school management, sporting and social clubs should be more open to discuss sexuality and gender equity issues. Lastly, the need for strengthening school-community and family partnerships is strongly recommended.

Keywords: schoolgirl pregnancy, integration, sexuality education, curriculum